The Story of the Pilgrims

The Story of the Pilgrims

Written by Katharine Ross

Illustrated by Carolyn Croll

Genre: Informational

Suggested Grade Level: 1-3

            How do you celebrate Thanksgiving? Katharine Ross gives us an explanation of how the first Thanksgiving came to be in The Story of the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims endured an incredible journey from England to America where they made a home for themselves with the help of the Indians. It is a fascinating story that everyone should hear.

            The story begins in England where the Pilgrims were upset that the King of England would not let them worship God in their own way. They packed up set sail for America in hopes of finding freedom and a better life. On the ship they ate the simplest of foods and after many days at sea they found land. There was no sign of civilization. The men were armed and began to explore the land. It was rumored that America had vicious animals and savage Indians. They named their new home Plymouth and began to build houses. Unfortunately, many Pilgrims grew ill and died from the horrible winter. In the spring, they encountered their first Indian, a very friendly Indian. The Pilgrims and Indians agreed they would not harm one another; they would help each other. The Indians taught them how to fish, navigate the forest, where to find nuts and berries, and how to plant food. When fall came, the Pilgrims were so happy with their abundance of food. They celebrated with the Indians over a large feast. We continue to celebrate this feast today, Thanksgiving.

             The Story of the Pilgrims followed in sequential order, starting in England and ending in America celebrating Thanksgiving. The book was organized very well. I think the writing could keep children interested because Katharine Ross used good adjectives to describe what was occurring. The writing could really grab a child’s attention. There was a balance of fact and theory. “Day after day, the Pilgrims saw nothing but the endless ocean and sky. Now and then, the huge slippery body of a whale would break the surface of the water,” (page 6). This could be a theory, or it was just written in the book for children to see the huge whale in comparison to the ship.

            The drawings were perfect for an informational book. They were simple, but you could tell how the Pilgrims and Indians were feeling and what their emotions were. I think the drawings really contributed to the content of the story. The reader would evidently understand what the story was portraying. The illustrations show that the Pilgrims worked hard to survive in America. This book would be good to read to students to explain how Thanksgiving began. The children would learn about Pilgrims and Indians and other vocabulary used in the book.

Massachusetts ELA Curriculum Frameworks:

RL 8.4. Make predictions about the content of the text using prior knowledge and text features (title, captions, illustrations).

RL 8.5. Retell important facts from a text heard or read.

RL 10.1. Identify differences among the common forms of literature: poetry, prose, fiction, nonfiction (informational and expository), and dramatic literature.